Who Is Peter?
by SquickWrites
Summary: They smiled in their new homes  With no face of regret  Forgetting those waiting for them  Trapped forever in his net.
1. Myths

**BECAUSE PETER PAN IS EVIL. Yeah, I've gone and twisted everything up, because I am a terrible person. You have every right to hate me. I have NO IDEA how chapters for this book will work. Considering that I'm stupid, and doing this right when school is four days away, I don't know how often I'll be updating or whatever. Just hang in there with me okay? Please? Grasa and Adi!**

**~Otaku :U**

There were not many things that you could truly say that "everyone" knew. There was stuff most people knew, and certain groups knew, but if there was one thing that truly everyone knew, it was the tale of Peter Pan. Or, the tale of the tale of Peter Pan. It was the scary story people elaborated on at night. It was the story that had morals that mothers taught their children. It was even classified as a basic lesson in school. That story was known across the planet, and as a result, relatively _no one_ knew the story of Peter Pan.

The best thing to call all the stuff we said would be a story about a story. No matter what, you could not ever trust Peter Pan. What had been said really wasn't confirmed as a tall tale, or utter truth. Either way, people would heed the warnings. It was said that when someone read or told the story of Peter Pan, he would appear. Just like what the books said. And to follow suit, you would be whisked away to Neverland. However, the stories didn't usually end with such a happy ending as the Darling children. From what people had been hearing, they never came back. Of course, no one knows what happens to the children when they go to Neverland. But people didn't want to start disappearing. It's part of human nature to fear the unknown. So naturally, people stayed away from the stories of Peter.

But this is what was true. Seven children had gone missing. A few had suffered abuse, some were orphans. A couple had even been in average middle class families. Other things rang true about them too. Some of them had told the story to other children while the others had admitted (in a rather triumphant way at that) that they had read the story. Other facts were that all of the children were female. All of them ranged between ages six and fifteen. None of them had been found to date.

Forensics obviously looked at this in a practical way. Six to Fifteen were common ages in cases of kidnappings and pedophilia, which was much more possible than a fictional character coming to life and stealing children. As a bonus, they were all female. On top of that, Peter Pan was a wide spread story. Possible kidnappers could have convinced these children to read the stories. They also could have simply found out about this because clearly, for anyone to have this information, someone besides the child knew that the story had been read and or told. There were plenty of explanations that people thought of. You always heard _could be_'s and _possibly_'s, but there was never one true answer. And those that believed in the story of Peter Pan clung to that one fact more than anything.

The fact that nobody had an answer meant that anyone could be right.

And that was what scared people most.


	2. A Book

Tara Runt was a daredevil. She took on dares and did some of the most extreme things, even though most of them scared her half to death. Why did she do them? This way, people didn't mock her. They had laughed a lot at the fact that her name lived true, because she was doomed to be 4' 9" for the rest of her life. Or at least, that was what the doctor lady said. She really didn't think that whole "growth spurt" thing really happened. Ever. So the crazy things she did made up for it. She did insane jumps on bikes. She had accomplished impossible tightrope walks. Swimming in shark infested waters and just about anything Houdini had ever accomplished were easy as pie. Too many people seemed to be faking things nowadays. What was so extreme about bungee jumping when you knew that if the rope snapped, you'd land on a soft pillow? Everything was way too unreal for her tastes. So she was changing that. For herself at least.

Some people called her foolish, but Tara was not an idiot. She knew her limits, and while most didn't believe it, there were things even _she_ couldn't do. But she would never admit that. She just denied some stuff in the coolest way she could imagine. It usually worked. But there was one thing she hadn't done. It was something she could do, heck, it was something anyone could do… but no one would ever dare to. That was what made it extreme. All because of some stupid old book.

Rupert Stanz had approached her after school. She always walked through the alley on her way home, and without a doubt, her posse was right behind her. They kept bullies away (because anyone who screwed with Runt knew that they wouldn't go without injury for very long) and she kept them around just to let everyone know that she wasn't just some short kid. She was _the_ short kid. Believe me, it worked.

"Hey! Runt!" Rupert yelled, waving from the end of the alley.

Tara squinted at him and frowned. Rupert Stanz was almost six feet tall, and intimidated her more than any other boy in her grade. His cocky grin did not help the emotions between them.

"Whaddaya _want_ Stanz?" She shouted back to him, finally reaching the boy as she stopped.

"I bought you a present." He replied, smirking as he dropped a parcel wrapped at her feet.

Tara felt unsettled at this random display of power. Instead of bending over to pick it up, she stared Rupert down. Those green eyes were not going to outdo her. She was not going to lose to some newspaper. Bending over in his presence would be an admittance of loss. And that was not going to happen.

As if her mind had been read, one of the boys behind her, Xavier, bent over and picked up the parcel for her. "So serious today." He muttered, handing her the package.

Tara took it, shaking her head. "Thank you for that remark." With a frown, she tore off the top of the package, which revealed the cover of a book. She raised an eyebrow at Rupert who gestured for her to continue, so she ripped off the rest of the paper. With a sigh, she opened the cover of the book, and what she saw even made _her_ catch her breath.

One of the girls to her left whispered, "Is that…?"

Tara's eyes immediately went back up to Rupert. "Do I even _want_ to know where you got this?"

"You don't really _need_ to." He replied, his smile growing ever wider.

"Is it real?" Tara asked, cautiously leafing through a few pages.

Rupert nodded. He pushed her hand away lightly, earning a slight twitch of her arm. He turned a couple pages to a drawing. "Everything in there, word for word. Even original illustrations."

Tara's eyes widened as she stared at the illustration. "I don't even understand how you could…"

"Let's just say I care about you that much." He replied, clearly not willing to offer an explanation. "So? You up for it?"

Tara raised an eyebrow as she continued to flip pages. "Are you suggesting that I put my life on the line, risk disappearing and possibly be killed for some dare?"

"Does that mean no?"

"I never said that. But you know the rumors…" Tara looked back up at Rupert. "Are you being serious here?"

"Of course. No one talks about Peter Pan unless they mean it, now do they?" Rupert replied, snickering.

"And no one _buys_ Peter Pan unless they are out of their minds." Xavier muttered under his breath.

Rupert suddenly snatched the book from Tara's hands. Without thinking much, she reached for it as if she had really wanted it. Rupert was already laughing at her by the time her arms had retracted. He waved the book between his thumb and forefinger. "If you aren't going to do it say no. I won't judge you."

But of course he would judge her. Because that was the whole point of this. Rupert was decent when he was in the mood, but other days, like today, he was unacceptable.

All things considered, she could totally get kidnapped because of some stupid dare. On the other hand, this was a dare and it was _just_ a book. More than seven girls had to have read Peter Pan. It was just a coincidence was all.

So reading the book should be no problem.

Tara held out her hand holding eye contact with Rupert as she did so. "Gimme the book."

Rupert reached out and patted Tara on the head. Something completely forbidden. But he handed her the book as he did so. "Have fun Tara." He laughed, purposely bumping into her as he left the alley.

Tara was seething when Xander spoke up again. "You really don't have to do this. You could go tomorrow and say you did-"

"Ew. What kind of suggestion is that?" Tara raised the book over her head and continued on her way. "I said I was going to read it so I will. The best you can do is pray I don't get killed in the process, kay?"


End file.
